Egypt - Country profile
1. Country
Name: Arab Republic of Egypt
Capital:Cairo
LandArea:1millionsq.km(386,874sq.miles)
Population:81,713,520(July2008)
Language:Arabic,English and French(widelyspoken)
Major religions: Islam/94%,Christianityandothers/6%
2. Economy
GDPGrowth:
DataSource:EconomicIntelligenceUnit-GeneralAuthorityforInvestmentandFreeZone
CommercialSectors: Wholesalers,HyperandSuperMarkets,Retailers.
Trade:MillionsUS$
DataSource:CentralAgency forPublicMobilizationand Statistics(DataistreatedandclassifiedbyEITP)
ServicesSector:
Logistics and Transportation, Shipping, Banking Services, Information &Communication Technology, Telecommunication,HousingandRealEstate,HotelsandRestaurants,FinanceandInsurance.
Infrastructure:
1. Competitivelypricedandreliablesuppliesofpower,water andgas
2. Large,accessiblesuppliesofrawmaterials
3. Accessthroughmajorairportsanddeep-seaportsfacilities
4. LargeinvestmentinCommunication&InformationTechnologynetworks
5. Ongoingprogramofexistingandnewroadstoaccommodateeconomicexpansionand newcommunities'development
NaturalResourcesofEgypt:
Egypt’slandareaisestimatedat238millionacres,including8.2millionacresofcultivatedlands,theremainderisdeserts,lakes, andterritorialwaters.
Water Resources:
TheRiverNile isEgypt's main water resource as it represents 85%oftheavailablewatersupplies. Egypt'sfixed share of the Nile water is 55.5 billionm3/year whilerainwater accounts for 1 billion m3 /yearof our water resources. The amount ofgroundwater currently in use is 4.8 billion m3 / yearintheNileValleyandtheDeltainadditiontonearly0.57billionm3indesertlands.
Despitethelimitedwaterresourcesandtheincreasingdemandsandneeds,Egypt'swaterpolicies managedtoachievewatersecuritythroughreusingtreatedwatertocreateadditionalresources;
4.5billionm3aresuppliedbyagriculturaldrainagenetwork,6.5billionm3byindustrialdrainage, andabout0.7billionm3bythetreatedsewagewater.
MineralResources:
Egyptpossessesasignificantmineralwealthparticularlyoilandnaturalgasinadditionto phosphate, iron, and magnesium. The most important productsof quarries aregranite, basalt, marble, limestone andsilicon.
HumanResources:
Workforce(in millions): 24.2 (2007/2008) labor force–employed:22.9
With a population of over 81million, Egypt is richinhuman resources;its businessmen are experiencedinthemarketsofitsneighborcountries,anditpossessesagoodmixofsemi-skilled, skilledandhighlyqualifiedworkforce.Egypt'sworkforce,closeto22million,isanexcellentsource for productiveinexpensive labor. The growth of Egypt's laborforce has averaged about 2.5%annuallyinrecentyears.
The abovefiguresare%ofemployment*Pleasesee attacheda briefreportoflaborforcesalaries
InflationRate:
Annualheadline CPI inflationcontinued todecline reaching a 20-month lowof 9percent. DataSource:CentralBank of Egypt
Currency: EgyptianPound
ThefollowinggraphshowstheEgyptianPoundvs.USDollarinthelastfiveyears.
EgyptianpoundsperUSdollar:
3. ForeignDirectInvestment(FDI)Inflows
*Preliminary
DataSource:CentralBank ofEgypt
Foreigndirectinvestmentreached8.1billionin FY2008/09
Up until2006 more than 3,800 international companies were established ina wide varietyofsectorsincludingmorethan28oftheworld’slargestmultinationalsfromthe USA, Japan, Korea, China, India, Turkey, Germany, France. Switzerland, Britain, Malaysia……
